Patience, confidence, and consistency paid off for the connections of Linguist on Saturday, May 16, 2026 as the four-year-old bay filly crushed Division II of the $1.25-million James B Dawes Memorial Trophy by 8 lengths.

Trained by former three-time champion conditioner Anthony “Baba” Nunes and ridden by two-time defending champion jockey Raddesh “Sneaky Fox” Roman, Linguist covered the 5-furlong (1,000m) straight in 58.4 seconds in the Restricted Overnight Allowance for three-year-olds and upward.

Roman barely had to move in the saddle. Linguist disputed the early lead with Fortuna Belle (Aaron Chatrie) and Whisky (Tevin Foster) before kicking into another gear at the dummy rails. Once she switched gears inside the last final two furlongs (400m), the race was over.